UPDATED: Hope student Riley Gortsema killed in early morning crash

The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed the fatality. Riley Gortsema, 18, from Grandville, was living on the Hope College campus taking May classes, said Thomas Renner, director of public relations, in a statement from Hope College.

Riley Gortsema, an 18-year-old Hope College sophmore, was killed in the early morning hours today in a bus versus pedestrian accident.

The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed the fatality. Gortsema, from Grandville, was living on campus taking May classes, said Thomas Renner, director of public relations, in a statement from Hope College.

Ottawa County Sheriff Sgt. Greg Rotman said a private bus being driven by Travis John Terrell of Franklin, Tenn., was southbound on U.S 31 near Chicago Drive in Holland Charter Township when the bus struck Gortsema, who was walking. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the scene at 1:46 a.m.

Gortsema was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the bus was uninjured. No other details are being released at this time. The accident remains under investigation.

“We are saddened,” Renner said in the statement.

Hope College staff from Residential Life and Counseling and Psychological Services will be offering their support to students, the statement said.